Lake Source Cooling EIS, Annual Succession of the Phytoplankton Community

2.3.3.2.2.1 Annual Succession of the Phytoplankton Community.
A detailed evaluation of spatial and temporal variation of the Cayuga Lake phytoplankton conducted during the 1970s concluded that annual succession dominated the observed variation in community dynamics (Godfrey 1977). On an annual basis, the phytoplankton were dominated by cryptophytes. Four distinct periods were identified:

• A spring period (early June through mid-July) where the phytoplankton community was dominated by diatoms and cryptophytes, both in numbers and biovolume. Chlorophyll a was typically at its annual peak during this period.
• A brief period during the latter half of July, where cyanobacteria comprised the highest number of plankton cells (although not the greatest biovolume).
• A longer period from August through mid-October with numbers of plankton and biovolume dominated by chlorophytes, gradually shifting to an increase in numbers of cyanobacteria.
• A winter period dominated (in numbers and biovolume) by cryptophytes.

This investigation (Godfrey 1977) concluded that the Cayuga Lake phytoplankton community consistently increased in number of species from minimum values in the winter (11 to 25 species) to maximum values in late summer and autumn (60
species).

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